Walmart to buy back used video games

Walmart will soon begin offering a video game trade-in program to collect used games and resell them in stores and online.

Starting on March 26, gamers can bring their used video games into some 3,100 Walmart stores and receive a credit to spend on anything they want at Walmart and Sam's Club stores or on the retailer's website. The video games must be in working condition and in the original packaging, and must be brought to the electronics department where employees will evaluate them and determine a trade-in price. Customers cannot receive cash back for video games.

(FILES)Shoppers are seen outside a Walmart store in Rosemead, California in this January 29, 2014 file photo. (FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)

Walmart executives said they will accept thousands of popular video games for Sony Playstation, Microsoft Xbox and Nintento Wii, and will refurbish them and resell them in stores and online later this year. There more than 880 million video games being played in homes across the country.

Walmart tested a video game trade-in program in 2009 that collected games through vending machines and gave money back on a credit or debit card, but that program raised concerns about fraud. On a call with media on Monday, executives said that program was shut down and the retailer has since been working to create a simpler and fairer video buy-back system. Last fall, the Arkansas-based retailer also rolled out a trade-in program for smartphones and tablets. Walmart's partners with CExchange, which refurbishes, recycles and assesses the value of used tech gadgets.